1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to basketball, and more particularly to a basketball having improved playing characteristics.
2. Description of Related Arts
Conventional basketball, as shown in FIG. 1, generally comprises a spherical bladder carcass 11 which is a hollow rubber ball having a valve stein affixed thereto. The bladder carcass 11 has a plurality of projection ribs 111 integrally protruded and extended thereon to define eight leaf shape panel recesses 112 surrounding by the ribs 111. The two vertical sides of each rib form two extending edges of each panel recess 112, which are generally perpendicular to the bottom surface 113 of the panel recesses 112, i.e. the outer surface of the bladder carcass 11.
The basketball further comprises eight leaf shaped cover panels 12 having a shape of each of the panel recesses 112 adapted to affix in the eight panel recesses 112 respectively. Each of the cover panels 12 is made of leather or synthetic leather such as polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). As shown in FIG. 1, the synthetic leather made of cover panel 12 is composed of an outer coating layer 121 and an inner lining layer 122 integrally attached and supported under the outer coating layer 121.
The rigidity and durability of a conventional basketball as described above merely depend on the cover panels 12 but not the soft rubber bladder carcass 11. The structure of the cover panels 12 must be tough enough to absorb all the impact force. Therefore, the outer coating layer 121 of each of the cover panels 12, no matter it is made of leather or synthetic leather, must be further strengthened by affixing one more layer of coarsely lining 122 thereon in order to better support the outer coating layer 121 and resist the stress. The roundness and re-enforcement of the basketball depend on the strength of the lining cloth.
The coarse lining layer 122 of each of the cover panels 12 generally increases the hardness and toughness of the ball cover 11 but fails to provide a comfortable gripping and better rebounding characteristics. In fact, the leather or the thickened and hardened synthetic leather cover panels 12 of the conventional basketball may make the basketball player feels hurt and pain during ball passing and shooting activities, especially to children and those amateur players. In other words, for children and training basketball players or amateur players, the conventional basketball would be too rigid and hard for them.